Phylloscartes roquettei
The Minas Gerais Tyrannulet (*Phylloscartes roquettei*) is a diminutive and critically endangered passerine, averaging 11-12 cm in length and weighing around 7-8 grams. Its appearance is characterized by a distinctive gray crown and nape contrasting sharply with an olive-green back and a bright yellowish-olive rump. Key field marks include two prominent yellowish wing bars, a dusky ear patch, and a faint whitish eye-ring that gives it a somewhat spectacled appearance. The throat and underpart...
This species exclusively inhabits the mid to upper strata of humid montane evergreen forests, typically found between 900 and 1,600 meters elevation. It shows a preference for dense understory and canopy edge foliage within primary and mature secondary Atlantic Forest fragments.
Primarily insectivorous, feeding on small insects and other arthropods gleaned from leaves and twigs.
Minas Gerais Tyrannulets are diurnal and highly active, spending their days meticulously foraging within the forest's mid-story and canopy. They employ an agile foraging strategy, primarily gleaning insects and small arthropods from the underside of leaves and small branches, often hanging upside...
The Minas Gerais Tyrannulet boasts an extremely restricted and fragmented geographic distribution, being endemic solely to the state of Minas Gerais in southeastern Brazil. Its known breeding range encompasses isolated montane areas within the Atlantic Forest biome, specifically documented from S...
Critically Endangered
- The Minas Gerais Tyrannulet is one of Brazil's most critically endangered bird species. - It is strictly endemic to a few isolated montane forest fragments in the state of Minas Gerais. - Its scientific name, *roquettei*, honors Brazilian anthropologist and physician Edgar Roquette-Pinto. - Des...